Say Cheese!

The day has come when taking a photo has ceased to be just taking a photo. Think again before you snap that photo of your prized antique collection and upload it on Facebook. Today’s digital cameras and smart phones, unbeknownst to many, automatically “geotag” their images by embedding the longitude and latitude at which they were taken. When you post the pictures online the images retain this information allowing virtual strangers to determine the exact location where the photo or video was shot. Even more disturbing, this feature has been used to “cybercase” or track people using the images they upload on the net, making it a convenient tool to a whole slew of crimes. The problem is not many people know it’s activated in the first place when they start using their digital cameras and phones. This is yet again another instance where we lose control of our privacy through the internet.